But if I want to be social why does it have to be people I didnt choose (i.e. co workers). Why can I WFH and socialise with my family/friends who I choose to be with. This is basically nothing to do with remote work and more about isolation.

▲

obscurette 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Being forced to interact with people you haven't chosen to socialize is good for your mental health and for society. People interacting with different people are less afraid of the world, more trusting etc. Clustering into echochambers is bad for society as a whole.

▲

tensor an hour ago | parent | next [-]

I don't think it has anything to do with echo chambers. It's simply that weak tie relationships are different than close ties, and very valuable. This narrative that we somehow are required to interact with people who are "very different" (often it actually means "offensive to us") is something that seems to be pushed by the US alt-right very hard. I call BS on it.

▲

zimpenfish 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Being forced to interact with people you haven't chosen to socialize is good for your mental health and for society.

That may well be true for some extroverted people, yes; it is 100% absolutely not true for "all people". You force me to interact with people I haven't chosen and there's a reasonably high probability that I'll subsequently choose to never interact with you again.[0]

> People interacting with different people are less afraid of the world, more trusting etc.

My childhood was largely interaction with people I didn't choose[1] and, nope, I am absolutely not "more trusting" as a result.

> Clustering into echochambers is bad for society as a whole.

Citation needed for that one.

[0] There is a slim chance that the people I haven't chosen to interact with turn out to be reasonable decent people who I don't annoy and, more importantly, don't annoy me.

[1] A bunch of enforced house moves and a paucity of decent locals at each new house/school.

	▲	tpmoney 15 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		> That may well be true for some extroverted people, yes It's true for some of us introverted people as well, especially given that without some "reason" to get together, some of us might never interact with another person ever.

▲

tayo42 an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Work is a fake environment where your communication is policed and you need to read books about how to effectively communicate to influence people do the things you want. Normals socialization isn't like that.

▲

small_model 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Not sure about this, most people would rather interact with people the like, click with than some boomer manager who thinks it's still 1950 IBM days.

▲

JackFr 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Socializing != socialization.

The first is enjoying the company of friends, while the second is a sociological process of internalizing cultural norms and appropriate behavior. How to behave in a group, how to approach a stranger, how to respond to someone who irritates you, etc.

▲

aok1425 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The abstract of the article says that folks who have remote work are more socially isolated, even after work hours.

Maybe WFH allows folks to be more social with the people they want, but the abstract says that they socialise less overall, and are more socially isolated.

	▲	small_model 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Most people live with a spouse , kids, room mates though, I live with my family and they are generally around so get plenty of company (too much sometimes). This is about living alone AND WFH, then yes might be good to go to the office.

▲

oytis 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I mean, it's right there in the abstract. The study showed that people working remotely were more isolated outside of work too.

Personally I enjoy working remotely and value time spent alone, but the data looks interesting

▲

small_model 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Why is more isolation negative, should be a spectrum, 98% alone and the rest socialising.

▲

aok1425 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

The abstract doesn't say that isolation is negative (I think). It just says WFH folks are more socially isolated.

For some people, more social isolation is OK. For others, not so OK. YMMV .

I personally think that more socializing is better, if it's with people who I become better by being around. The tough part is knowing who's good for me, and how I can find them.

▲

ahtihn 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I prefer being alone but also feel worse after prolonged periods alone.

Preferring something doesn't mean it's good for you.

	▲	small_model 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		True, I meant forced socialisation a.k.a office. You need some socialising most days but most people get that from living with spouse/family/room mates etc i.e. people they have chosen.

▲

oytis 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Well, the abstract also says they were not feeling well because of that, I guess that's what matters